Interest runs high in Tempe for medical marijuana shops

Medical marijuana zones in the East Valley

The East Valley will become home to about 14 medical marijuana dispensaries under a proposal by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The agency is preventing the shops from clustering by limiting them to one within each of what it calls a Community Health Analysis Area (designated in red).

The fledgling medical marijuana industry has set its sights on
Tempe, flooding the college town with more than 40 requests to set
up shop there.

That’s twice the number of inquiries for the rest of the East
Valley combined. It’s also far more than the roughly 13 shops that
state regulators will allow in the entire East Valley.

Tempe figured demand would be high because of the city’s central
location and large student population at Arizona State University,
said Steve Abrahamson, the city’s planning and zoning
administrator.

“It’s really not a surprise we’re where there would be the
demand,” he said.

The interest in Tempe triggered snickers among some officials
and even would-be operators who suggested medicine wasn’t the real
motive behind some of those budding entrepreneurs.

Dan Steadman is looking to establish a shop but didn’t bother
with Tempe because he knew competition would be so stiff.

“It’s like playing the lottery,” he said. “I’m sure in that
group there will be a lot of people who are not qualified to open
up a store.”

Steadman said he discovered marijuana’s medical value after
surgery and other traditional treatments failed to ease crippling
nausea. Steadman said he used the substance legally in California,
which also allows medicinal marijuana. Steadman said he was
prepared to leave Arizona if voters hadn’t legalized medicinal
marijuana in November’s election and that he has long planned to
get into the industry.

“Whatever it takes, we’ll jump through the hoops to do something
we really believe in,” Steadman said.

Steadman and his brother Tim set their sights initially on Mesa
and then shifted to Pinal County for a better shot at winning the
limited number of state-issued licenses. Regulators have
tentatively planned to allow about 124 dispensaries in Arizona,
with one shop each in 126 zones that were established to study
public health. That translates to five shops in Mesa, and two each
for Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert. Apache Junction and Queen Creek
will be allowed one shop each.

Mesa has received 16 applications since it began accepting them
Thursday. Gilbert has two, while Chandler has three.

The Arizona Department of Health Services will award licenses
after reviewing each applicant’s proposal and credentials. East
Valley communities regulate where the shops can go, generally
keeping them away from neighborhoods, schools, churches and parks.
The cities require public hearings for each potential location.
Some communities could approve more locations than are allowed in
their boundaries, leaving state regulators to choose which
operators will get a license. Tempe established a lottery to
prioritize which candidates it will focus on based on the number
each applicant drew.

City planners said it’s hard to predict if shops will generate a
backlash or if the community will see them like any other
business.

A review of applications for shops in Mesa reveals a wide range
of business models and sophistication. One application showed a
bare-bones shop featuring only a small lobby and one other room
where the marijuana would be sold. Most of the store would be
empty, according to a 10-page submittal.

A much thicker application for The Virtue Center decried the
more free-wheeling medical marijuana approach in California and
Colorado, where critics of the drug say state laws have led to
widespread recreational use under the guise of medicine. The Virtue
Center would be an upscale dispensary where patients visit by
appointment and go unnoticed in a large office building, the
request said.

“Patients deserve the security of a professional approach to the
dispensary concept, where they can receive appropriate counseling,
privacy, and their needed medicines without fear or embarrassment,”
the application said.

The Peace Releaf Center submitted three bound booklets detailing
every aspect of the operation, including a 57-page security plan. A
man named Jeff associated with the organization openly discussed
the founders’ efforts and approach but did not want his last name
published until a license was awarded.

“We have several people involved in our group who have family
members who are either cancer survivors or have lost family members
to cancer,” Jeff said. “We’re not looking for any other reason
other than medical.”